Food prices rise 0.7% in September; Broccoli prices up 49.5% from August

An unusually windy, wet and cold September around the country meant fruit and vegetable prices rose by a seasonally adjusted 2.6% in September from August, with broccoli prices jumping 49.5%, Statistics New Zealand said.

Overall food prices rose 0.7% over the month. Grocery food prices rose 1.2%, although meat, poultry and fish prices fell 1%, Stats NZ said.

Food prices were up 1.3% in September from the same month a year ago, after four consecutive months of annual price falls.

Here is the release from Stats NZ:

Food prices rose 0.7 percent in the September 2010 month, Statistics New Zealand said today. Higher prices were recorded for grocery food and vegetables. Food prices fell 0.1 percent in August and rose 1.6 percent in July.

The grocery food subgroup rose 1.2 percent in September 2010. The most significant upward contributions came from snack foods (up 7.8 percent), chocolate (up 4.6 percent), and yoghurt (up 4.5 percent), which were influenced by the removal of discounting in September.

Fruit and vegetable prices rose 2.6 percent, with broccoli prices rising 49.5 percent and lettuce prices increasing 13.5 percent. "Vegetable prices were affected by unusually windy, wet, and cold September weather in different parts of   the country,” Statistics New Zealand’s prices manager Chris Pike said.

The meat, poultry, and fish subgroup fell 1.0 percent in September, with fresh chicken prices decreasing 7.6 percent and lamb chop prices falling 6.3 percent.

Food prices rose 1.3 percent for the year to September 2010. This rise follows four consecutive months of annual falls in food prices.

In the year to September 2010, grocery food prices rose 2.6 percent, fruit and vegetable prices rose 6.8 percent, and restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food prices rose 1.5 percent. Meat, poultry, and fish prices fell 4.3 percent, while non-alcoholic beverage prices fell 1.4 percent.

(Updated with Stats NZ release.)